Colonel Samuel Smith Park

Toronto (Etobicoke), Ontario
Type
Parks

Colonel Samuel Smith Park is named in honour of Colonel Samuel Smith, Commanding Officer of the Queen’s Rangers and one of the first settlers of Etobicoke.

Samuel Smith (December 1756 – October 1826) was born in Hempstead, New York. A Loyalist, he joined the Queen’s Rangers in 1777 and by 1780 had risen to the rank of Captain. He took part in many battle of the American Revolutionary War, but was captured during the Battle of Yorktown and surrendered to the Americans in 1781. After the war he settled briefly in New Brunswick, and in 1784 went to England where he joined Simcoe’s new Queen’s Rangers as a captain in 1791. The Battalion was sent to Niagara, Upper Canada, where it was to assist in the erection of public buildings, the construction of bridges and roads, and in any other civil or military duties. Smith commanded the Battalion from 1799 until its disbandment in 1802 and retired to the lands previously granted to him in Etobiocoke Township. He entered politics in 1813 and remained involved in this endeavor until a year before his death in 1826. Part of Colonel Samuel Smith’s land grant now forms the Colonel Samuel Smith Park.

Inscription

[plaque]

Colonel Samuel Smith Park

Colonel Samuel Smith Park recognizes one of Etobicoke’s first settlers. In 1793, Smith, of the Queens Rangers, was granted Crown land by Lieutenant Governor John Graves Simcoe. Smith’s tract eventually extended from Lake Ontario to Bloor Street, between Kipling Avenue and Etobicoke Creek, and included some of this waterfront park.

The park surrounds the former Lakeshore Psychiatric Hospital, established and operated by the province from 1888 to 1979. It was the first health care facility in Ontario to use a decentralized “cattage” system. Generous lands surrounding the building were devoted to agriculture and gardening. Patients helped to construct most of the buildings here. The farms and gardens, maintained by patients, were both therapeutic and productive – a model of self-sufficiency and modern treatment.

Colonel Samuel Smith Park provides a scenic access point to Lake Ontario and the Waterfront Trail. This significant public greenspace and heritage resource includes a 21.5 ha lakefill area created by The Metropolitan Toronto and Region Conservation Authority between 1983 and 1992. Habitat restoration projects include Carolinian tree and shrub plantings and the creation of a 3.6 ha wetland (a partnership project between Metropolitan Toronto, the province of Ontario and the Government of Canada). These projects help advance Metropolitan Toronto’s goal for a healthy waterfront offering unique recreational opportunities. Colonel Smith Park officially opened September 8, 1996.

Visitor information

Location
Colonel Samuel Smith Park

3145 Lake Shore Boulevard West
Toronto (Etobicoke)
Ontario
GPS Coordinates
Lat. 43.5985326
Long. -79.5155983
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